Posts Tagged ‘‘Carter’

Lil Wayne is back and more honest than ever on his long-awaited new album, Tha Carter V, which dropped on Friday (September 28), the day after the rapper’s 36th birthday.

After listening to 22 tracks spanning over 80 minutes, fans arrive at the album’s outro, “Let It All Work Out,” which finds Wayne opening up about the time he sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was just 12 years old. In the past, he’s claimed that the shooting was merely an accident, but his verse on Solange’s 2016 track “Mad” sparkled speculation that it was actually a suicide attempt. On that song, he rapped, “And when I attempted suicide, I didn’t die / I remember how mad I was on that day / Man, you gotta let it go before it get up in the way.”

Wayne confirms the speculation toward the end of “Let It All Work Out” — which samples Sampha’s “Indecision” — by detailing what happened during the shooting: “I aimed where my heart was pounding / I shot it, and I woke up with blood all around me / It’s mine, I didn’t die, but as I was dying / God came to my side and we talked about it / He sold me another life and he made a prophet.”

Wayne’s mother, Jacida Carter, also addressed her son’s suicide attempt on Tha Carter V‘s penultimate track, “Used 2.” In a spoken outro, she said, “I still don’t know today. Was he playing with the gun or was it an accident? I be wanting to ask him but I never asked him after all these years. … I never really found out about what really happened with him and that shooting.”

According to a recent Billboard cover story, Wayne shot himself in the chest at age 12 after his mother forbade him from rapping. In the same interview, Young Money president Mack Maine explained Wayne’s decision to finally tell the full story of what happened that day. “He just told me one day that he was ready to address it now,” Maine said. “Just being an adult, reaching a level of maturity and comfort where it’s like, ‘I want to talk about this because I know a lot of people out here might be going through that.’”

I can’t believe I’m saying it, but Tha Carter V is almost here. For real this time.

Lil Wayne himself has announced that, after years of anticipation and leaks, the mythologized album will finally see the light of day on Thursday (September 27), his 36th birthday. The impending release comes seven years after Carter IV and follows a half-decade of agonizing delays and intense legal battles.

Wayne shared the news in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, thanking the loyal legions of fans who have stuck with him over the years. “Y’all hung in there with me, so I can’t do nothing but thank y’all for all the love and all the passion,” he said. “I always give y’all all of me, but with this album, I’m giving you more than me. This is four, five, six years of work that you’ll be listening to. I hope you enjoy it.”

For those that need a primer, Tha Carter V — the fifth edition of a series that dates back to 2004 — has been in the works since at least 2013, when Weezy first said it would be released. But the album was held in limbo for years as legal battles were waged between Wayne and Cash Money Records founder, Birdman. Their disputes were resolved in court earlier this year, and last month, Birdman joined Wayne onstage at Lil Weezyana Festival to publicly apologize to the rapper, ultimately clearing the way for Tha Carter V‘s release.

To help ramp up the excitement, Wayne has installed a countdown clock on his website, which is slowly but surely ticking its way to zero. Just hang in there a little longer, folks.

And in the meantime, please enjoy this now-iconic Wayne moment, in GIF form:

Fans have been waiting for Tha Carter V for nearly six years, which is an eternity in the rap game. Luckily, it seems like we’ll finally get to experience the album after it was reported that Lil Wayne has settled two ongoing and often contentious lawsuits.

On May 23, Wayne’s attorney, Howard King, filed that they want to dismiss the lawsuit against Universal Music, according to The Blast and confirmed by Pitchfork. Allegedly, Universal settled for “well over $ 10 million,” and Wayne’s deal with Cash Money is done, The Blast reports.

Karen Civil, who has worked closely with Lil Wayne in the past, gave an update on the settlement on Twitter.

“A portion of the information released today is true, a settlement has been reached, but the dollar amount being disclosed is false,” Civil wrote. “Lil Wayne’s PR team will send out a statement shortly with accurate updates.”

The first lawsuit was aimed at Cash Money, Birdman, Ronald “Slim” Williams, UMG Recordings, Inc., and Universal Music Group, Inc. for breach of contract. In the second lawsuit, Wayne was reportedly looking for $ 40 million in damages from Universal Music Group, Inc. and SoundExchange, Inc., for profits he didn’t receive from Young Money artists Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga.

In a 2012 interview with MTV News, Wayne revealed that he planned to retire after Tha Carter V.

“Because I know y’all want me around for a little bit, and Carter V is my last album,” Weezy revealed. “Man, I’ve been rappin’ since I was 8 years old. I’m 30 now, man. That’s a long time, man.”

Unfortunately, his legal troubles blocked the album from ever seeing the light of day. However, Birdman did tell Rap-Up earlier this year that, “I’m guaranteeing you gon’ get [Tha Carter V] this year.”